#if anyone has anything to add please do!

[stargazostli]

Right so solargeist's really fleshed out watcher headcannons/ au got me thinking

and an idea that's been floating in my head for a while now is 'Grian was always a watcher'. Honestly it was probably originally inspired by the "He was only ever meant to watch", obviously it's about Grian being a watcher as of the end of Evo but also "only ever" made me think.

So we know the watchers thrive off of entertainment and bad emotions, and probably also chaos (aka Grian incarnate). So in my headcanon they 'recruit' young players to go onto servers and worlds and inspire chaos or entertainment that would please the watchers to, well, watch. These recruits would be taught skills/ powers like shapeshifting and other typical fanon watcher abilities to help them stay under the radar on the servers they go to.

So what if Grian was one of these recruits and was sent to worlds like yhs and any other worlds he was on before Evo to create entertainment for the watchers. He enjoys the chaos, likes having the friends and storylines he makes on these servers, and definitely likes the powers that come with the job. Soon Grian's one of their best recruits and possibly one of their most powerful, mastering shapeshifting almost immediately.

And Evo is the big one. Grian is properly undercover, pretending to not know who the watchers are and adding more people to the server (Taurtis and Pearl who both joined late) for them to feed off of. It's also Grian's world, which adds a lot of responsibility but also alot of power. The watchers originally just watched and kept an eye on Grian but started meddling when they realised "Hey, the admin isn't going to stop us or look into it, we're his boss!" and when they realised the entertainment that would come with players dealing with god-like beings they don't quite understand.

Grian's all up for this, he of course knows what the watchers are. And while he's a bit miffed whenever they punish him for something (see putting obsidian on his chests and making a clay statue he isn't allowed to mine), He plays along and enjoys being able to do his own thing on a world for the most part.

Then Grian joins Hermitcraft. Maybe the watchers sent him there too, or maybe it was him trying to get away from the responsibilities of his job. Either way, Grian being on two servers at once means the chaos is more spread out and less noticeable, so the watchers recall him, pretending to the other evolutioners that they are making G one of them (end dragon fight on evo). Evo sort of fizzles out and the watchers become bored of it. Most people escape to other worlds or servers, Martyn gets plucked out by the listeners, and the world is forgotten and overgrows again.

Grian continues to make chaos on Hermitcraft. Again, either the watchers telling him to, old habits dying hard, or just because he wants to.

Anyways, from then it's basically what you actually see happens, plus Martyn's lore, and anything that makes more entertainment or chaos is either the watchers or Grian. Grian if it seems harmless just fun and interesting, ans the watchers if it seems a bit more extreme (boogeyman and red bloodlust) or is obviously watcher-y (secret keeper)

I might flesh this out further, but yeah this is basically what I've been thinking about for the past few days

[transgender-weirdo]

to preface, i am absolutely not saying it is always wise, safe, or possible to, but it is always "morally" acceptable and even good to defend yourself against immediate danger, including and especially from cops. a person protecting themself from police violence in any way necessary is always in the right and should not be condemned or seen as guilty for doing so. placing a negative moral judgement on a person protecting their own life from those who are supposedly kept around to "protect and serve" (🙄) is absurd and very often racist. this 100% includes situations in which the person on the defense from cops may have been antagonistic to them or even committed a crime prior to needing to protect themself, btw. cops do not reserve the right to harass, beat, or murder others, no matter what.

[alivegirldetectiveagency]

The show gives us very little information about edwin’s life. i’m pretty sure all we know is (1) he read detective stories (2) is father would call crystal a bobtail (3) he was presumably bullied (i say presumably because the ritual could have been a first incident but i find that unlikely just cause. the severity of it)

i hope we learn a little more if we get a season 2 because i think edwins childhood would give interesting insight into him (this goes for all the characters actually) but i think we can make a lot of assumptions about what his life was like based off the time period

(disclaimer: i am not an expert by any stretch of the imagination, so i apologize for any inaccuracies)(and for any typos)

this post got kinda long so the rest is under the cut

edwin lived from 1900-1916 which mostly encompasses the edwardian era (1901-1910). for the purposes of this post i will be talking as if it was all edwardian for simplicity and also because the last few years of the victorian era and the first few years after edward vii would have been very similar. i am also operating under the assumption the paynes were upper class because (1) vibes (2) edwin is very formal which would have been emphasized the most in the upper classes (3) he had the time and money to go to boarding school which still wasn’t very accessible (although education was growing in importance)

the importance of childhood was growing in the era and there was a lot more leisure time and entertainment. still, etiquette and manners were very important so there would have had the “seen and not heard” attitude towards children. in upper class families, child rearing would have been done by a nanny and not the mother. the father as head of the house would have been strict and interacted little with the children. so edwin probably saw very little of his parents while growing up even before boarding school. since edwin was a son his father might have taken him out for things like shooting/hunting but that would have been just him and his father (and brothers if he had any). also edwin does Not seem like he would have enjoyed that so i dunno if much bonding would have occurred during those outings. family time in general would be rather brief. He would have had more time spent with siblings his age since younger children would have spent most of their time in the nursery/with the nanny.

i’m going to brush past the school life part because i do not know much about it other than that he would have started at st Hilarions around 13. and that i’m pretty sure corporal punishment was used in boarding schools like it at the time? (not entirely sure on that front it depends on if the school is state sponsored) we can infer from the show that edwin did not have a Great time at school but i don’t know what the specifics would have been like

etiquette was very very important. i don’t think the edwardian era was quite as strict as the victorian era but there was still a LOT of social expectations. including the perfect posture george rexstrew does as edwin. etiquette would also include addressing everyone properly and limited affection. you also wouldn’t really touch anyone! not to get their attention or shake hands in greeting or clapping someone on the back. Self control was everything even in times of excitement or distress. Social classes were very strict although the industrial revolution created the neavue riche so social mobility was not impossible. new rich families often tried to adapt the traditions of the (aristocratic) upper class but integration was slooow. (Middle class families would adopt trends from the upper classes too). while formality was important, language in general was simplifying partially due to mass newspapers. if you’ve ever read Oliver Twist or another Dickens story, the language is very verbose and hard to follow which is par the course for victorian literature but less so for edwardian literature.

speaking of literature and entertainment we know edwin liked detective stories. he reads a max carrados story (which started in 1914) to charles and in edwin’s death flashback you see him with a detective penny/dime novel (in the scene you can read “The Aldine Tip Top Tales, High Hat Harry” and google tells me the rest of the title is “The Base Ball Detective”). Edwin probably also read Sherlock Holmes which was still popular. Growing up he might have Peter Pan/Peter and Wendy (the title changed after its initial publishing in 1904) and The Tale of Peter Rabbit (1902). And more short stories and dime novels (like the Aldine company ones) since they were getting very popular at the time. Entertainments like the Winter Gardens and Pleasure Beach in Blackpool were also growing popularity. but generally outdoor upper class entertainment would have been tennis, hunting, or racing. (fun fact the 1908 summer olympics was in london so edwin might have watched it as a child!) there also would have been a lot of dinner parties but those would have been for the parents to maintain or increase social status and not necessarily include the children.

overall edwin’s childhood probably included a lot of extravagant entertainment. He would not have spent much time with his parent so unless edwin had siblings his early childhood would have probably been lonely. canon does not suggest he really made friends while in school either.

Canon and fanon has touched on how edwin’s social skills took a hit from being in hell for 70 years (which is definitely true). But on top of just escaping hell, edwin is using knowledge/skills from a vastly different social era when he first meets charles. it must have been really jarring the first few years of being friends because charles’s ideas/experiences with friendship were WILDLY different than edwin’s

[god-i-hope-so]

Tips for younger Bucktommy fic writers who're looking to write an accurate characterization, especially when it comes to Tommy (and this post is also for the people who think everything goes too fast with no build-up between Buck and Tommy):

Dating when you're in your 30s and 40s is very different. When you meet a decent person you're attracted to and with whom things go (very) well the first few times you meet, things can go very fast in a very simple way. You know yourself better and you know others better too. So the dating phase can be very short and things can move on to being a real couple and moving together quite fast (if that's what both want). Also, things go even faster when it comes to queer people. In short: less bullshit, more straight to the point.

Love != passion. Of course, it's a generalization but the "passionate" phase of the relationship doesn't last as long as when you're younger. The passion is still there but it's not burning hot, explosive, in the face of the world, "look at us how we loooooove each other", it's more tender. You can have a passionate relationship but it doesn't show the same way as when you're 20. Passion becomes like a slow cooked dish with rich and deep flavors, instead of the rush of an energy drink and 5 coffees in your 20s. Also, it doesn't mean Buck and Tommy can't fuck nasty.

We care less, about a lot of things. Again, it's a generalization and I'm also writing this with what we know about Tommy and Buck. Unless Tommy is hiding his game very well, his personality is pretty clear to me. Look at the date. It was a failure for Tommy, as a gay man who fought his own demons, and others, for years. Yet, he decided to be kind about it. Because in the end, it's not the end of the world. It hurts, sure, but that wouldn't be the first time and he didn't make it only about him. It was also about Buck not being ready. The coffee date was also a good scene. Tommy is almost nonchalant, open. I'm borrowing Ryan's words when he said "whatever happens happens". Tommy went through enough shit to not give this situation the drama that can be easily avoided. And it paid off.

Pouting, sulking, active display of real jealousy, acting like a child (and I insist on the "like a child" because adult can sulk, obviously) = NOT CUTE. AT ALL. I get that the infantilization of adults is very common in fandoms so younger people can relate, and because fic writers often write older characters with younger people in mind as references. But it's not a thing in real life, and when it happens, it's not "normal behavior". Of course they can sulk and pout, but not the same way as a young person would. It's a lot more subtle. Also, in the case of Tommy, he's been shown being very good at communicating what he wants and doesn't want. Buck will dance around the matter more, his frustration would probably show with him being agitated or anxious, being reckless too, because he's just like that, but not Tommy. Make them talk about their issues, even if they go through a period of frustration and miscommunication. Tommy should be the kind of man who will encourage Buck to grow and be better at sorting and understanding his feelings in a mature way but without treating him as a child.

Again, all this could help for an accurate characterization. Anyone is free to write the characters the way they want, go full OOC if you want, it's your fic. This post is just giving some tips!

[hatchers-hoard]

scum villain au where airplane based all the peak lords on greek gods

i dont know where i was going with this i just had the thought of wei qingwei = hephaestus

[smolandweirdwriter]

as someone with it - tourettic adaine!

bracing herself when she feels prelimanary urge to tic, trying so hard to suppress but also defiant about the fact that theyre involuntary. hates when anyone outside the bad kids notices or comments (the group makes up nicknames for her most common tics) her parents thinking shes being weird or 'freakish' until jawbone helps her get diagnoses.

snapping at people who assume that the tics are on purpose but also snapping at people (post freshman year) who think everything is a tic - "no that wasnt a tic i want you to fuck off"

adaine tics a lot more noticeably when she's anxious - she grimaces and jerks her head, sometimes makes noises, but they're mostly more prominent when she's anxious or having panic attacks because shes better at hiding them usually, as her parents used to snap at her to "stop twitching". she thinks of it as sneezing*, where she can hold it in for a while, until shes out of sight and she can tic. due to this, she never got diagnosed.

when she moved in with jawbone, it took a while before he gathered the courage to ask about her tics. she brushed it off as a nervous habit, something silly, made a few jokes about her parents' awfulness, and pretty much let it fall into silence. jawbone respected her privacy. that night, adaine fantasy googled twitching disorders, blinking problems, facial disorders, etc**. about an hour later, she walked downstairs to where jawbone and sandra-lynn were making dinner and asked if she could pull jawbone aside. they stepped into the living room and she quietly told him her speculation. she couldn't stop tic-ing as she told him and she could barely get her words out. jawbone told her she was very brave for coming to him and immediately made an appointment.

slowly but surely, adaine gets more vocal about her mental/health needs. her parents taught her there was something wrong with her, something she could fight and beat out. that, as it turns out, is a lie. still, after all shes been through mental health wise, she has a particular sore point for "haha im overstimulated/ticcing/having a panic attack" jokes, as well as people at school gawking at her like they're waiting for her to tic. still, it's better than hiding it. also, she has a bunch of friends now (and a formerly-evil sister) who will no-questions-asked curse and/or punch anyone who bothers her.

*one of my friend with tourettes explained it like this to me

**also something one of my friends did before they got their tourettes diagnosis

[bow-wow-wark-wark]

Toshiro defense post

Hi everyone! So, I know this topic has been discussed a bunch of times before xd, but I keep seeing people say nonsense about Toshiro so… strap in cause this is another Toshiro explanation post!!

IMPORTANT: I do want to clarify that it’s fine if you dislike Toshiro. After all, everyone has the right to dislike characters so I’m not going to stop you, I know it’s not that serious. But then I’d like to ask you to stop spreading misinformation about him, use him for angst stuff that mischaracterizes him or any of that xd. Like, dislike him in peace xd but stop using him as a villain. Also, before any of you say “I understand his complexities but…”  let me stop you bc most of the time you don’t xd. Like you acknowledge the microaggressions and other things but use other poor excuses for hating him or invalidate that, so please read this post and keep an open mind!! Finaly, this post is going to touch on and disprove the following topics: 1. Toshiro hates Laois (together with stuff like how he is ableist and an asshole) 2. Toshiro is a huge hypocrite for liking Fallin (together with how he doesn’t really love her) and 3. Toshiro was racist towards itsutzumi (without getting too into complex race politics). I will also back up my arguments by content in the anime and some of the extras from the manga, despite that I will not delve on spoiler related content so, let’s get to it!

1. Toshiro hates Laios.

Something that people use to hate on Toshiro is his famous fighting scene with Laois, saying things like “Toshiro was ableist towards Laois” “Toshiro is a hypocrite because he complains about poor communication, but why didn’t he say anything himself?” “Toshiro hates Laois” but before we tackle this let’s recap:

In this scene they fight over the fact that Laois has poor social skills and doesn’t understand the ways Toshiro expresses his annoyance at him and his desire to have some space, he also accuses Laois of being unserious about saving Fallin and even says that he has always hated Laois. This scene resonated with MANY people that have experienced this exact same conversation with “friends” who would get mad at them for showing neurodivergent traits, I am one of those people as well so I can totally understand.  So, them seeing themselves in Laois and their acquaintance in Toshiro people accuse him of being ableist, but this:

Is not that. First of all, it’s important to note that Toshiro’s complaints come from his cultural background as an easterner, where he is used to subtle communication, and by his upbringing as an heir of his island (something that is explained by this thread in great detail!! But to summarize it basically says that he has become more reserved due to his retainer’s overbearing nature and do to being compared to his father constantly and by being surrounded by rumors of his family, so he chooses to not speak out as to cause more trouble for himself). Second of all he doesn’t really do anything ableist… many people say that they hate him “because he was a huge dick to Laois” but apart from expressing his frustration by yelling and fighting, something rude of course, what ableist or horrid thing did he do?  He didn’t call him names or anything, and even acknowledges the fact that Laois is someone who acts in good fate and doesn’t mean any harm to him, but he still dislikes his actions (not a bad thing at all). It’s also important to note that Toshiro is TIRED in this scene, he hasn’t eaten or slept in 3 whole days and suddenly he bumps into a bunch of problems and the girl he loves turned into a monster by this guy who seems WAY to relaxed about it and who he already has gripes against, my question is: Who wouldn’t lash out? Additionally, this scene is important for him too!! As he finally stands up for himself and expresses his feelings, something that drives his character development into being a better guy.

On top of all that, it’s also important to note that Toshiro himself shows signs of being neurodivergent just that in a different way than Laois. For example, his hyperfocus on saving Fallin making him ignore his needs, his overreliance on social cues to understand others, his stand offish an awkward nature that doesn’t let him connect with the people around him and his difficulty to express his needs. These are things many neurodivergent people can relate to, and dare I say, things Laois shares with him!! They both suck socially which is literally what causes this, so what makes him so different? So hard to forgive? What makes it hard to understand him but not Laois? And let’s all not forget the fact that Laois has been pulling a microaggression on him by calling him a butchered version of his name this entire time! It doesn’t make him evil! But it shows how they have a complex relationship where both sides where right. (Also, I know this is a complicated topic and I know there are poc people who hate him BUT, to me the issue is that he 1. Has a meltdown and 2. He’s not white. Like it is very known and said that poc cannot express themselves in such freeing ways as our white counterparts, so it’s harder to be nd and poc than white and nd, which is somehow the case for Toshiro as well xd. Many people say that he shows how people only like nd traits when they’re palatable, but this argument goes back to you, you might find nd traits better when it’s on a white guy you can baby and not on the Asian guy who should know better. None of them should have to, characters are allowed to do bad things and fix those errors).

 Lastly, Toshiro mends his mistake immediately!!  He doesn’t hate Laois, if anything he holds complicated feelings towards him for a while, which most of the cast do (more on this later). Some people seriously act like this didn’t happen, but at the end of the fight he admits that he doesn’t hate Laois (media literacy check but not everything a character says while angry is true!!) but envies his free spirited and straight forward nature. And if this doesn’t seem enough to mend his mistake, he gives Laois the calling bell, which will immediately send someone to help him and fetch him to the east. Would you have a guy that you HATE as a refugee in your country? Plus, he’s serious about the bell too! This scene wasn’t added in the anime, but there’s a point where Toshiro and Kabru are leaving and they keep hearing the bell, which they point out as annoying, despite that Toshiro always keeps it with him and says that if the noise stops, he will know to fetch Laios. If he really hated him, why would he keep a loud object around him just to make sure he is safe? (There’s literally a scene where it goes off after Laois throws it and he just acts embarrassed that it’s interrupting a conversation, but he doesn’t leave it or anything).

2. Toshiro is a huge hypocrite for liking Fallin.

With that point out of the way, lets get to the 2nd problem: Toshiro’s crush on Fallin. Let me preface once more by saying I LOVE Farcille and think they’re a very cute ship, but using Toshiro as your angst bait is not cool and super ooc (clarification: I don’t mean like a respectful joke about him getting rejected or exploring marcille’s thoughts on his proposal, I mean bashing on him hard or saying that he would intervene or disapprove of a farcille relationship).

Ok so in this case, many people say that Toshiro is a HUGE hypocrite because of 2 things: 1. He likes Fallin but dislikes Laois even though they’re almost identical, and 2. Because he claims to love Fallin while abandoning her and condemning black magic.

So, let’s get into why this is not true:

We have already discussed how Toshiro does not dislike Laois, but pushing that out of the way, the one thing he “dislikes” about Laois is the one thing he does not share with Fallin, which is their social awareness. Fallin is significantly more socially aware and tends to do things as to avoid burdening others, putting her needs aside, she’s someone who is very thoughtful and mindful of the people around her, unlike Laois who, while also thoughtful and kind, is not as receptive (Also crazy to note that her and Toshiro share this “not fully sharing my feelings as to not burden others” thing). Besides that, he likes that Fallin likes bugs/nature (the same thread from before has a nice possible explanation if you want to check it out) something that could be related to Laois’s love for monsters which, fun fact, he doesn’t hate at all!! Something that, funnily enough, others seem to give Laois flack over but not Fallin (crazy how there aren’t as many people shitting on Marcille or chilchuck for this?? specially since Fallin also likes monsters but Marcille never says anything about it and centers her annoyance on Laois? Wow… (I don’t hate Marcille for this either btw, I’m being sarcastic). And on the topic of this double standard, I’ve seen many people ask how he thinks he can marry into the Toudens while hating Laois (bad), while at the same time seeing so many “omg marcille thinks the only downside to marrying Fallin is Laois” (funny), crazy how its bad when Toshiro does it, huh? (Even crazier is the fact it’s only half true for both of them xd, they like Laois he is their friend)

So, once more he dislikes that Laois doesn’t give him space but likes Fallin because she does, especially because they aren’t very close at all. Toshiro has a hard time getting close to others and it’s stated that he tends to put barriers around himself with people who are “close” to him like maizaru and Hien. But since Fallin is an acquaintance at best it’s easy to like her from afar and the traits she seems to show outwardly.

Which leads me to the next point: Toshiro mani pixie dream girlifies Fallin. It is true that Toshiro has idealized her and doesn’t know her too well because they don’t talk but... is that a crime? There are many characters who hold biased opinions on others (like kabru with Laois or senshi with marcille or marcille with the orcs, etc.) and that doesn’t really get critiqued either. I don’t think it’s the sign of a horrid man for him to like Fallin without knowing her to well xd, it’s pretty normal for a crush and also if you consider his nature. Besides, this is once more influenced by his background: in one scene chilchuck mentions how the proposal thing is common in the east + he is an heir xd, so it’s only logical to be thinking about marriage, specially since his dad has high expectations for him (something that I know has not yet been shown in the anime, but it is present on extra manga content). It’s important to note also, that he doesn’t claim that he knows her best, puts words on her mouth or push his feelings towards her either. He proposes, she says that she will think about it and as far as the anime is concerned, he waits patiently for her answer. He doesn’t say “curse you woman you are coming with me!” or anything like that, and even if he expresses that he wants to leave with her to the east, that is ONLY if she says yes and agrees to that, so its illogical to say any of these things without proof.

Now onto the 2nd main point of this section: He abandoned Fallin and hates black magic. 1st of all, he didn’t abandon Fallin, he left to gather his retainers to search for her in a way he thought more efficient and once we see him again, he HASN’T EATEN OR SLEPT IN 3 DAYS OUT OF DEDICATION ALONE!! (If you use the argument that he abandoned Laois, that can also be explained by this). Now, him hating dark magic and claiming to turn in Marcille to the elves. This is not the best, since it poses conflict for our protagonists but 1. He doesn’t even end up doing that and helps them out after all is explained and 2. Put yourself in his shoes, what would you do if your crush turned into a monster that killed all your party? “Toshiro didn’t love Fallin enough to accept her as a monster unlike Marcille” Are you guys listening to yourselves? What he sees is a Fallin that has been desecrated and turned into a monster, something that will harm her and others + he’s not a magic specialist so how would he know or believe that they could turn her back to normal? He condemns Marcille but not out of lack of love, but I would say because of it, as far as he knows this could only turn worse for her anyways. Also, Kabru points out his illogical line of thought, claiming that it would be better for Fallin to die then, and Toshiro realizes how stupid he sounded a moment ago xd; Kabru points out how he also would have done anything to save her, and he backs down in agreement.

Once more, maybe annoying but not bad guy material. What’s more, this one is a really pressing matter as I have seen SO many Farcille fan artists and editors using him as an easy villain that hates Marcille (he is canonically scared of her) or as a cuck that doesn’t get Fallin. Somone pointed out once how he gets treated like a female character that gets in the way of an mlm ship and I agree. But while sometimes funny, it gets absurd at times and tends to border on making him someone he is not. I’ve even seen people say he’s homophobic (XD) or make him the token straight guy (something that in most fandoms means being an annoying incel character). In addition, many people say that Fallin would hate him for being “mean” to Laois but 1. She is very kind and would probably understand him. 2. If she realizes Laois has forgiven him, I don’t think she would meddle in to fix her brother’s problems because he wouldn’t want that and that’s just not her personality.

2.5 Small section.

Before we move into the last section, I’d like to add a small section called: you guys don’t understand Toshiro’s personality. Let’s be clear Toshiro is a shy, quiet, reserved, sentimental, rigid and half-hearted guy. It’s not common for him to start things, he tends to leave problem solving to authorities, he isn’t too confident in himself, and he is also an outcast in his homeland. Yet so many people describe him as being arrogant of self-absorbed and I really don’t know where that is coming from. Like, I’ve seen a bunch of people say, “oh how can he think he’s good enough for Fallin?” or variations of the sort but... I don’t think he thinks that he just decides to shoot his shot anyways. I’ve also seen some people describe him as some “pretentious rich asshole”, but this is also never showed or implied in text. Toshiro does not flaunt his wealth; he doesn’t act like he is better than ANYONE in the party, he just has money by being an heir (something not fun for him) and that’s it, but he doesn’t even use his status to get anything from anyone either., so… where is this coming from? (Racism? a need for a bad guy? who knows?) Plus, many people seem to dislike him because he is an aristocrat but… the system is not the same as being like a prince, his family just has influence in the east. Besides, characters like Laois or Mithun were also well off and from influential families and don’t get that type of flack. There’re also characters like Laois and Kabru, who express the desire to join this “aristocratic/monarchy” system by becoming king and lord of the dungeon. Who, then again, don’t get that flack.  

3. Toshiro was racist towards itsutzumi.

With that out of the way, we have reached the final point: Toshiro owns people (making him racist ig). Ok so let’s preface by saying 2 things: 1. Dungeon meshi is not a racist story, but a story with racism and many complicated race relations that get treated respectfully for the most part. With this is included, the complex treatment of beast skins and other races seen as less human like kobolds or ogres like Tade.  2. The retainers are not slaves; they are servants for Toshiro’s family.

Ok, so it is true that Toshiro’s father bought itsutzumi from people who were abusing her (and Tade as well but people don’t bring her up when talking about this xd) and later put her to work as a retainer, so therefore he owns her right? Yeah, but not as a slave. Slaves do forced labor and are kept in inhumane conditions, which she is not, as she is given a home, education and the most labor she does is chores (which she usually avoids anyways) and probably some fighting of the sort. In fact, you could even say that she was enslaved prior to being bought by Toshiro’s father (not that this is an excuse for buying her necessarily, but once more this relates to complicated race things). It is also important to acknowledge that as a beast skin itsutzumi (a non-human) is seen as less valuable and gets treated unfairly by maizuru. And while it can border on othering behavior, like being tied up for misbehaving, this is once more pushed by maizuru and not any of the other retainers or Toshiro himself.  With this argument usually comes the mention of the cursed collar that was kept on her, which is definitely a bad thing, but once more it is made by maizuru without Toshiro having ANY knowledge about it. I don’t judge any anime only for not knowing this, but in one extra it is revealed that Maizuru actually used the collar on Toshiro himself as a child, so that he would not leave too far from her side, so she explains that she made a similar one for itsutzumi; in this extra he looks surprised and remembers the traumatizing experience so... yeah, he didn’t know.

Additionally, many people compare the argument that he doesn’t own them, but his father does with the sixpence drama from a long time ago. Saying that this doesn’t excuse the behavior and that he should have done something, but that can also be explained. 1. Toshiro actually doesn’t meaningfully associate with any of the retainers prior to leaving to the island, (as explained by the adventurer’s bible and other extras) except for Hien as they are childhood friends and Maizuru. Besides that, he holds no relation to any of them, so he could not have known about itsutzumi’s situation, and it’s even shown that he doesn’t know how he should treat her at all. Despite that Toshiro does show consciousness towards their situation, saying that he would like to talk to Tade about being so adoring of him and his father, but he isn’t sure how to approach the issue. With that, we could assume the same could be said about his feelings towards itsutzumi. 2. “He left her to die”, technically no. They know she’s a capable fighter, so they probably didn’t see any problems with leaving her and also, itsutzumi scapes his party. Meaning that they know she doesn’t like them so why would they go back and search for her? If anything, Toshiro might have thought of it as an easy way to give her freedom, once more, why would you force someone back when you know they don’t want to be there?

“Why didn’t he let her go sooner?” This is explained by the first bit that he didn’t really know her and by asecond thing: contrary to popular belief, Toshiro doesn’t have such a big control of the retainers as it may seem, and it is ultimately maizurus or his father’s choice as to what to do with them. Like he didn’t want them to come with him to the island, but they don’t heed to that and come anyways. So, what makes anyone think that he could just change his fathers wishes? So yeah, he doesn’t own people they work for his family and that’s it.

So, this is the end of the post, if you read all of this, I greatly thank you and I hope I could make at least one of you change your mind. If not, oh well. Once more is valid to dislike characters, you can keep doing that but stop seriously stop with the angst bait or misinformation spread. That is all I want to say, so thank you again and see you later.

[lasagras]

All right, so we've seen this post by @fuckyeahcoffeeandequality

And they're absolutely correct. Some people actually say that Lofn and other goddesses are just different names or aspects of Frigg and/or Freyja, but I am wary of these claims since there are very few sources for norse mythology and there could be many reasons why there is much less written about the goddesses than the gods. But that's just me, and I am by no means an expert in the field. Snorri's Edda does say that Lofn unites those for whom marrige is forbidden, though, and that sounds pretty gay.

A little digression, bear with me I promise I have a point. Lavender has been used as a symbol for homosexuality and queerness for quite some time, and the colour purple even longer. "The Lavender Scare", "Lavender Menace" and "lavender marrige" are all terms and names from queer history, and the colour and the flower came to be empowering for queer people.

WELL

In Icelandic, the name for lavender is 'lofnarblóm', literally translated as 'the flower of Lofn'. The plant is not native to the island and the word seems to be quite recent (the first written example of it I can find is from 1986), in all the other nordic languages they call it some sort of variation of lavendel, except for Faroese, where it appears to be called 'bath plant' (I'm so sorry, I don't speak Faroese). There are a few other words that start with lofnar-, most likely as a reference to the goddess, but most of them seem to be rather old and/or uncommon. I have no idea why 'lofnarblóm' was chosen as a translation for lavender. Knowing icelandic history, the queer connotation was probably not on purpose, but I can't help but get excited about the connection.

TL;DR: Lavender (aka the gay flower) is named after Lofn (aka the gay goddess in norse mythology) in icelandic

[rivalcobalt]

Woe, MS paint diagram of the retroactive Komaedification of N be upon ye

[v-tired-queer]

So You're A Queer Kid and You Spot a Fellow Queer In Public: A Very Quick Guide Because I Have Class in an Hour

I just saw (and reblogged) a post talking about how queer kids will all too commonly approach a fellow queer person in public and unfortunately, are putting others--and themselves--in potentially dangerous situations, not to mention just straight (*snorts*) out uncomfortable. So I got to thinking, "Did . . . did anyone teach the baby gays how to interact with fellow queers in public . . . ?" because, lets face it--technology is advancing, and weather you think it's a good or bad thing, that doesn't change the fact that culture changes with it, especially for kids, teens and young adults. Even language changes for them, like it did for us (I do, in fact, use Vine Language, but I have no idea what drip, rizz or cap is, and at this point, I'm too afraid to ask).

So, queer kids: first of all, hi, nice to meet you! I--a demiflux lesbian--know it's exciting to meet or see another queer person in public, outside of the internet, but remember: safety comes first. So, as stated in the title, here's a quick guide to interacting with other queers in public.

Don't: Assume Anything

Seeing a patch on a jacket or dyed hair and a lot of piercings doesn't always indicate that that person is queer. Maybe they're an ally and wearing the patch in solidarity with a loved one, or maybe they just like alt fashion. Of course there's every possibility that this person is queer, but remember that looks =/= sexuality or gender identity. I'm absolutely positive that you've passed by or met a lot more queer people in public than you realize because a lot of us don't "look" queer. For example, I'm fem presenting and wear a lot of floral print dresses, heels and makeup--a lot of people assume I'm straight (which, rude.) So remember, looks won't always tell you if someone is also queer or not.

Don't: Ask

You know that policy that the US military had called Don't Ask, Don't Tell? Basically, it allowed queer people to enter the military but only on a hush-hush agreement--higher ups didn't ask, and you, as a queer person, didn't tell. Unfortunately, being in public spaces, it's kind of like that. The world just isn't as safe as we'd all like it to be, so we have to be careful. That means not asking someone their sexuality or gender identity in public, where others could hear. If the wrong person overhears that conversation, it could trigger a whole host of bad situations for everyone involved.

Not to mention, it can just be plain uncomfortable. Not every queer person wants to be approached about their sexuality or gender identity. Use your discretion. If someone looks like they really don't want to be approached, respect that.

You also want to be careful about accidentally outing someone. If someone is out with another person, but has a pin on their bag, that doesn't always mean that that person knows about the other person's presumed queerness. For example, when I was a young girl, my mom took me into the city, to buy some new clothes. I used to have a pin with the pride flag on it on my bag, but I wasn't out to her yet. Someone flat out announcing my sexuality to mom because of a pin would have outed me way before I was ready to come out to her. So remember to be discreet.

Do: Complement Them

So, you see a person, you've deduced that they're probably queer, just like you--yay! That's a very exciting thing. I still get excited when I see other members of the community out in public. But again, safety comes first. So, how can you low-key let them know that you know? Complement them! But you want to do it in a safe way, too.

See a patch on their jacket? Complement their jacket, not necessarily the patch itself.

A person has a lot of pins on their bag and one or more is representative of who they are as a queer person? Compliment their pins, plural.

There's a person with blue hair that is just giving off That Vibe? Don't ask if they're queer, just smile and complement their hair.

Trust me, we'll know what you're talking about.

Do: Use Code in Social Settings

I. Freaking. LOVE queer codes. Basically, back in the day, there were a couple of ways that someone could discreetly ask another person if they were queer. For example, asking someone--usually a gay man--"Are you a friend of Dorothy?" was a way of asking if they're gay, Dorothy being a reference to the Wizard of Oz, as the actress who played Dorothy, Judy Garland, is widely considered to be a queer icon. I couldn't find any information on her sexuality, but I did find that a lot of queer people related to her back in the day, if not on a sexuality level than on a personal one.

There was also the green carnations, started by Oscar Wilde, as a subtle cue to fellow queer men that you yourself were a queer man. For women, you could give another woman violets as a representation of sapphic love and desire. Though, to be honest, I'm not sure how well known this one was, especially after the fall of using floriography, or the Victorian language of flowers (which can also be used to express negative feelings for someone, too, just so you know--don't like someone? Send 'em a bouquet. They probably won't get it, but you will).

Queer code still exists and is used to this day! For example, sometimes a sapphic person will ask someone if they listen to Girl In Red, which is a modern way to discreetly ask if someone is also sapphic.

Queer code should really only be used in a social setting. If you're at a café, and you spot someone who is fem presenting, and they seem open to conversation and you want to actually meet fellow queer people, you can ask if they listen to Girl In Red. But remember to read the room, and the person. Not a place where conversation can be had? Then probably not the appropriate place to be using queer code.

Long Story Short

While spotting a fellow queer out in the wild is a very exciting thing, remember that safety and comfort for everyone involved comes first. You never want to accidentally out someone, or put you and them in an unsafe situation. Use common sense and manners.

Happy socializing! 🏳️‍🌈🩷🏳️‍⚧️

[hansrilowz]

help us understand hanschen to the extent that you do

EEEEEEEEHEH THANK U FOR THIS… i absolutely love hanschen and he’s been my favorite character in any media since i was like 13 and now i’m about to turn 21 😅

when i was about 13-15 i was on spring awakening tumblr and that was very crucial to my understanding of him at that time… despite having a lot of wrong and weird opinions while i was younger, i’ve continued on interacting with spring awakening media and continued to watch the musical and read the play as i got older. as i got older i understood him more and more. (i do want to note that every actors interpretation of hanschen is different, but this is my general opinion on his character all together.)

so, hanschen at the time of the musical was about 14. that’s a confusing time to be a kid, especially a queer one! a lot of people don’t seem to like hanschen, calling him creepy or manipulative. i feel like, again, a big part of understanding these characters is understanding that they’re children in an incredibly oppressive society. in contrast to the other spring awakening kids, hanschen has seemed to mature a lot more quickly, along with his peer melchior.

hanschen and melchior are the only characters in the show who know about sex at the beginning. melchior is more sex-positive, open to talking about it with moritz and teaching him about it. hanschen, on the other hand, is more neutral about it. in frank wedekind’s play, during his desdemona scene, there’s a line that says: “Thuman’s Psyche — another legacy of the hatchet-faced Mademoiselle Angélique, that rattlesnake in the paradise of my childhood;”. there’s another scene earlier in the play, in act one scene two, where melchior says: “-George Zirschnitz wanted to tell Hansy Rilow, but Hansy Rilow had already learned it all from his governess when he was little.”

these lines tell us that when hanschen was just a child, his governess had told him all about sex, as well as showing/teaching him about Thuman’s Psyche. hanschen uses the term “rattlesnake” to describe his governess, a term that tell us she was someone who shook up and made his mostly peaceful childhood chaotic.

in the classroom scene early on in the musical, different actors and productions usually work with how hanschen acts while moritz messes up his recitation and while melchior is having his speech interpreting Virgil’s Aeneid on moritz’s behalf before “all that’s known”. this is regarding the teacher criticizing moritz and hitting melchior with the teaching stick. for example: jonathan b. wright in the original cast is a little bit more naïve while actively trying not to let his confident façade slip, laughing at what the teacher says to please him but getting scolded and scared afterwards; though you can still see he has a childlike nervousness and tenseness to him. when melchior is hit, he jumps with the rest of the boys from being startled.

in contrast, andy mientus in deaf west spring awakening, is slightly less naïve and keeps up the fake cockiness slightly better. using clips from the june 13, 2015 performance, his hanschen seems more focused on making sure he truly pleases the teacher and doesn’t let the façade slip. he laughs along with the teacher, and while the teachers back is turned and melchior starts signing, he tries to seem unbothered. though while melchior is hit with the stick, we do see him flinch, letting the act that he seems unbothered slip. after “all that’s known” and moritz and melchior start signing to each other, hanschen chooses to blatantly ignore them as to not get in trouble. (which, if i remember correctly, was changed in some performances to have him seem bothered by them signing and making it known he doesn’t agree with them rebelling against the teacher, which still fits to his character.)

i think both of these interpretations are very true to hanschen. he’s still a kid, but he doesn’t want to test his luck with authority. he wants to please them and he doesn’t want to get in trouble. despite all that, he’s 14 and he still gets nervous and scared and both their interpretations show that. at the core of hanschens character, he was never meant to seem truly cocky or rude. his demeanor on the outside is practically just a survival instinct, as he knows he’s queer and he’s matured and knows how the world and reality can be. some additional context for this argument in the musical lies in the vineyard scene, where not only is he more softer and comfortable around ernst, he says these particular lines: “Trust me, there are only three ways a man can go. He can let the status quo defeat him - like Moritz. He can rock the boat like Melchior and be expelled. Or, he can bide his time, and let the system work for him - like me.”

the overall analysis of these lines is saying that you can either let your present situations suffocate you, stir things up and try and combat them to change things, or you can wait things out and work with what you have, like hanschen does. this tells us that yes, he is giving into pleasing authority despite not agreeing with them so things work out for him and he leads a steady life. this doesn’t make him cocky or stuck-up, he’s just more matured and knows what’s best for him at that time.

another misconception of hanschen’s character is calling him manipulative and creepy towards ernst. i’ve always thought that, in both the play and musical, their relationship has always been transparent with no hidden, creepy undertones. my personal favorite version of hanschen and ernst’s relationship is in deaf west spring awakening. andy mientus here plays hanschen very confidently, but he’s also afraid of getting his feelings hurt. he’s too afraid to get too emotionally invested to protect his feelings. in deaf west’s vineyard scene, when hanschen kisses ernst at first and then says: “When we look back, thirty years from now, tonight will seem unbelievably beautiful”, he moves to leave. he’s scared and doesn’t think ernst will reciprocate his feelings. then, when ernst grabs him and says, “In the meantime?”, hanschen takes that as a green light to kiss him again. that possibly, those feelings were reciprocated. after that second kiss ernst says: “On my way here this afternoon I’d thought perhaps we’d only talk”, and hanschen took it as a rejection. that he felt ernst was suddenly regretting what had happened. hanschen then says “So are you sorry we-?”, making this more obvious. he turned and started pulling away to leave. ernst then grabs hanschen saying that he loves him, which hanschen obviously softens up to him and realizes that his feelings are reciprocated. so, he was going to run away due to, what he thought was, a rejection.

hanschen, even if he did come off very confident, just had a wall he had put up to seem basically, nonchalant. he told us, and ernst, that he wants to lead a steady life and he will adapt to the world around him in order to do that. at the end of the day, regardless of this, he’s still a 14 year old boy with a messed up childhood that led to him maturing far faster than his peers. he was scared, nervous, and afraid of his feelings and getting hurt in any way.

those are the reason why he’s always been my favorite character, not just in spring awakening, but generally. he’s a blatant reminder that these kids are just about 14 and that, both back then and now, we all have had different ways of growing up and going about our insecurities. he’s a complex character and largely misunderstood, but at the end of the day his character is a representation of being emotionally mature at a young age due to trauma. he is another reminder of the overall story of spring awakening it’s message: what happens to kids when authoritarian figures around them are negligent.

[sleepanonymous]

Heya! I just got into Sleep Token and I'm enamored! Do you know of any links to posts or anything that talk about the characters and their personalities onstage? I'm having trouble differentiating between III and IV (I know II is the drummer) and I want to learn more about them!

Also, is it pronounced Two, Three, and Four, or Second, Third, and Fourth?

Hi and welcome! 😊 Glad to see a new fan of the band. For the sake of clarity, I'll answer your second question first. The Sleep Token lore technically dubs them all Vessel 1, Vessel 2, etc. so it's my understanding that fans started calling the other band members Two, Three, and Four, and used Roman numerals for their monikers.

TLDR: This Weblink has almost all of Sleep Token's lore, and This Video also has almost all of Sleep Token's lore. The easiest way to tell III and IV apart from each other is by their instruments and height. III plays bass and is taller than the rest of the band. IV plays guitar and is shorter than the rest of the band (except for II, he is the shortest of the four).

I'll be honest, I also had trouble differentiating between III and IV when I first got into the band. Up until very recently, they wore similar outfits, too, which made pictures difficult to tell them apart. You can always tell via the instrument they're holding (if it's visible). III is the bassist and IV is the guitarist. Another way to tell depends on which side of the stage they are standing on. 85% of the time III is stage right, in front of the choir (Vesselettes) and IV is stage left, in front of II's drum set. My favorite way to tell them apart (before it just became secondhand nature to know which was which) was if the musician had a bun under his mask or not. IV's hair is relatively concealed beneath his mask, but III has longer hair and puts it up into a bun to keep it all in place under his mask during rituals.

The neck of III's bass is kind of in the way of the back of IV's head in the second photo, but here are two examples of the bun shape that III has. This is also a good way to tell them apart if they're standing next to each other, or, in this case, kissing. III is extremely tall and will always be taller than any other band member unless he's crouching or leaning over. If the two aren't standing near each other, you can always use Vessel as a measuring stick.

The photo on the left probably isn't the best reference, but trust me, III is about 5 centimeters taller than Vessel, he's just leaning back. The photo on the right also probably isn't the best since Vessel and IV are both just dark shapes lol, but at least it's obvious that Vessel is taller than IV.

The band as a whole is anonymous so you might not find much in the way of personalities, even of their stage personas. If you're willing to read up on the Sleep lore itself, you can do that here (this is a link to boolintunes.com). Or, if you'd prefer to watch a friendly, lecture-style video, there is this one here on YouTube. Persona-wise the most concise I can give you is this:

Vessel is very emotional. That is evident by the lyrics he writes, but doubly so when he is in front of an audience. He will cry, he will laugh, he will do silly dances, and he will hype up his bandmates. It's evident that he loves what he does, but he is also extremely humble about it. All of the love his fans give him he makes sure to give back 110% (the fact that he manages to do it without speaking is impressive in itself).

II is a beast, like no joke. This man has got to have started playing drums before he could walk, I swear. He, like Vessel, obviously loves what he does, has a blast, and also gives zero fucks while doing it. He will sit at his drum set and kick out beats while drinking Red Bull and Diet Coke through his mask 🤣🤣 During moments in songs where there is little to no percussion he'll often stand up and react to the lyrics Vessel sings. He also comes to the front of the stage at the very end of rituals to hype up the crowd and hand out his used drumsticks and sometimes even a drum head.

III is the most animated of the guys. I will often refer to him as the "main character" of Sleep Token because he is always front and center. This has also earned him the fandom nickname of Bassy Boi. I've seen him do everything from windmill headbang, to run in place, to high kick, to jumping up and down for 30+ seconds straight. He also has a knack for yelling at fans. There is a compilation video on YouTube here for reference. Also! Something I forgot to mention earlier in telling III and IV apart: III almost always has on his iconic checkered socks in the most recent shows.

IV (at least the current IV) is probably the most reserved and collected on stage (fun fact, there were two other IVs in Sleep Token before our current IV, I wrote about that here), In earlier shows he played with the band, around 2021/2022, he used to be fairly shy. Sometimes IV would stand off to the very side of the stage and let Vessel and III have all the attention. Luckily he's seemed to get past his shyness and has become much more of a crowd pleaser. He'll often do things like serenade the crowd (a bit like II does, only a lot closer since there's no drum set in the way), get roped into Vessel's or III's chaotic stage antics, or, you know, tease pulling his mask off in front of an entire music festival crowd.

[littlebunnysander]

Screenshotting my original post so my addition shows up in the tags.

Two-siding a genocide in your ongoing podcast while an actual real world genocide is going on is WILD.

The humans have been confirmed to be colonizers of land originally inhabited by monsters. They have carried out multiple genocides and forced the monsters out of their homes and into cities on the fringes of the world. Then more human invaders show up to destroy those cities (also the monster cultural centers).

We have confirmation that the city they hit first has been leveled entirely now. The city that Olala was seeking because it contained so much information and history about monster kind.

We've also got political leaders refusing to get involved unless the bombing comes to them, and the monsters being treated as primitive and ineffective against the advanced tech of the off-world humans. This is a really uncomfortable if unintentionally a parallel and actually awful if it is intentional. Best case scenario, it's trying to make a connection between fictional monsters and real life people in a way that's both othering and pretty racist. Worst case, the writers actually believe this is a two side issue and that any attempt to stop Israel is "just as bad" as an ongoing genocide.

Does anyone know if anyone has made any statements? I'm not expecting every creative to do so, but when your work is hitting this close to real world situations, it might be necessary.

[adhd-languages]

Just learned about the “Light L” and the “Dark L” and I’m losing my mind.

Anyway turns out I learned my “L”s manually and I never use the Dark L ever and learned how to approximately 5 minutes ago. I’m never going to be able to hear an “L” sound again without thinking about this.

[zamulas]

it's so over for us but let's focus on the positives!!

tyson is one of the top scoring rookies in the league and we should be so proud of him

our rookie goalie stepped up in a huge way and was honestly one of the main reasons the flyers were in the playoffs conversation this season!

we acquired jamie who is a strong defenseman and already making positive changes to our back line and loves playing for us

coots got the C and TK got the A! and beezer and frosty are stepping up in little leadership ways as well

we finally got fedotov!

we extended tippy 8 years!

they made it so much farther than anyone thought they would and are really establishing a solid core. they're going to be a force to be reckoned with next season

[lesbiancarat]

do you know what seungkwan’s post was about? or have a guess? bc i’ve been trying to think and i assume it has to do with them getting overworked and delivering an eh comeback but i really have no idea.

P.S. love the blog thanks so much for the updates!!!

it probably has to do with the lawsuits going on with the whole new jeans/min heejin/hybe situation. I haven't been following it super closely since it's not directly related to svt so I can't explain the situation well, but you can look it up if you're curious

as part of the investigation, apparently an 18,000 page document of internal reports from hybe was exposed, which was reports from hybe about how their own groups and groups from other companies were doing, and it included some nasty stuff about a LOT of groups

one thing regarding seventeen specifically was their report on the Joshua dating rumor issue that happened a while back, where hybe concluded there was no need to post a statement or take action because fans were distracted by their dissatisfaction with Joshua by Seungkwan making a Moonbin related post at the time+Wonwoo and Mingyu doing a live stream together which distracted the shippers from being mad at Joshua

which like. not only is it frustrating to hear that hybe was aware of all the hate Joshua was getting at the time and actively chose to do nothing about it, but that they justified it by trying to frame Seungkwan's struggle and Mingyu and Wonwoo just doing a normal live together as a marketing tactic

I've seen some other stuff related to svt that was supposedly in the report as well but so far it's only been from accounts that I don't find to be trustworthy sources so I'm not going to spread it. but just know that hybe is being exposed for a bunch of nasty things they've said in their internal reports about basically every group in the industry, whether they're under hybe or not

so seungkwan's post isn't just about himself and seventeen but it's a defense of all the idols in the industry that have to deal with this